


the interview circuit of 2016

by anakatieskywalker



Series: Olympics! AU [7]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arthur Brown is a terrible father, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Gen, Gymnast Dick Grayson, Gymnast Stephanie Brown, Gymnastics, Minor Stephanie Brown/Tim Drake, Post-Olympics, Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, Stephanie Brown Needs a Hug, Summer Olympics, USA Gymnastics, vicki vale is a bitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:00:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25854001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anakatieskywalker/pseuds/anakatieskywalker
Summary: Steph's finally become an Olympian, and now comes the press tour from hell. What could possibly go wrong?
Series: Olympics! AU [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1841788
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53





	1. an interview with vicki vale

**Author's Note:**

> when you have a creative block with the actual olympics, post the next part that's actually been written. at least, that's my motto.
> 
> steph and dick are olympic gymnasts, and gold medalists. what harm could a few interviews do?

It was after the Olympics, after months of grueling training and travel. Suddenly, Steph was sixteen and an Olympic Gold Medalist, and if she was honest, all she really wanted was a nice long nap, and maybe some home-made food from Alfred.

What they don’t tell you, when you’re training for the Olympics twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, is that the second you think you’re done, that you can rest and finally,  _ finally _ sleep for the foreseeable future is when the press blitz starts. You become a gold medalist and everyone wants to know what it was like, everything you did to train, and how they can be like you. 

Doing things like the TODAY show almost as soon as the gymnastics team set foot back in the US was just a no brainer, that was team press. Being interviewed with four other gymnasts was easy, because Stephanie didn’t have to do all the talking. Yeah, they wanted to know what it was like to have her sixteenth birthday in Rio, and they all got a good laugh out of the fact that she had honestly forgotten that it was her birthday.  _ Hello, she was at the Olympics! _ That definitely would be at the forefront of any teenager’s mind.

After the team press though, there were still plenty of people begging to get a word in on camera. Topics like her training with Bruce and Dick, how Bruce was ‘forging a US Gymnastics Dynasty,’ and any number of questions were still waiting to be asked, as pictures were taken and footage of her tumbling was captured.

Luckily for Steph, she had Bruce and Alfred, who ran like well oiled machines when it came to managing the press, and her US Gymnastics appointed press agent, Rebecca Jacobsen. Steph just sat back and waited for them to tell her who she would be talking to, and for how long. 

ESPN, 60 Minutes, and every news outlet in town wanted to talk about how Gotham City was becoming a gold mine for the future of athletics and what was next for the pair of Olympians coming out of the Greater Gotham Sports Complex. 

Somehow, even Vicki Vale made her way onto that list for a consolidated press day.

Everything started out well enough, Vale’s turn starting with her interviewing Dick. The 24 year old was always gracious in interviews, this wasn’t his first post-Olympic rodeo, and he even handled Vicki’s unwanted flirting with a deftness that Steph knew she would only achieve when flipping through the air. The interview went on to the topic of this being Dick’s golden olympics, and his childhood nickname of ‘Boy Wonder’ coming true. 

He ends the interview with a comment about spending time with a special someone, artfully avoiding mentioning that it was their own Barbara Gordon, Judo Master Extraordinaire. The woman was one of Steph’s favorite people on the planet, known in the Judo world as the Oracle, for her uncanny ability to anticipate her opponent’s moves. 

Stephanie would give up one of her medals to see Vicki Vale faced down with the brilliance that is the police commissioner’s daughter. It was almost sweet once the cameras were wrapped and Vicki’s too large smile was put away for the moment.

And then it was Steph’s turn. Vicki’s line of questioning was normal, to begin with. A joke about Steph becoming an Olympian before she got her driver’s license, what she thought of her teammates, and what she planned to do next. 

“I think I might still have something left in the tank for another Olympic run, but I’m pretty sure my mom wants me to go to college first.”

Then, because Vicki Vale is a viper, and a local Gothamite, she asks about Steph’s dad. And at first, Steph’s mind jumps to Bruce--her eyes cut to the side, where he’s standing next to the producer, and the look on his face clearly says that this wasn’t on the list of questions he’d been given. Dick is standing nearby as well, and he just looks Mad, with a capital M. 

Steph turns back to the interview, and as politely as she can muster, asks “What about him?” Because she doesn’t know what Vicki Vale is getting at. There’s no way a Gotham reporter would have found out that Steph had slipped up and called Bruce Dad while at the Games, no way for them to have known she meant it. 

The barring of the woman’s teeth does nothing to instill confidence in the teenager that it had been an innocent question slipped in at the last minute. Oh lord, Vicki’s done her homework. 

Another glance towards Bruce reveals a panicking producer, who is clearly trying to get Vicki to dump out of the line of questioning, but the woman just pulls out her earpiece and plows on. She talks about Arthur Brown’s court case--which had been high profile news in Gotham months prior to Stephanie’s Olympic run. 

The woman hits all of her bases, covering Arthur’s sentencing, the stunning lack of a character witness from his family, and Stephanie’s notable absence from her biological father’s trial. 

It’s not a pretty painting that Vicki puts together, she’s made Steph out to be some ungrateful child for her parents’ sacrifice, and Steph finds herself flashing back to her last visit with Arthur before the trial. 

**•••••**

He’d requested she come, without really saying why, and she had obliged, chaperoned by Bruce. They were only a few months away from the Olympic Trials, and on one of her last free Saturdays, she made her way out to the jail Arthur was being held in, and left Bruce in the hall to meet with her father in what she was sure was normally an interrogation room. 

Arthur and his lawyer didn’t waste any time getting into it, they wanted Stephanie to attend the trial and provide a character witness statement at the end, in hopes that would lighten any sentencing out of sympathy for the man’s only daughter. 

It made her sick to think about lying about how great of a father Arthur was, and she almost threw up when she realized they were asking her to miss a competition that would be critical exposure for the Trials. 

What kind of father would ask his child to throw away their dream to  _ maybe _ help them out, just for them to end up back in prison sooner rather than later?

The man had looked so sure that Steph would agree, but her mother had made something incredibly clear in the weeks after Arthur’s last arrest. Her father had made his bed, he’d committed the crimes he was charged with, he could deal with the consequences. Crystal had made sure that Steph knew she was free to do whatever she wanted, and she spent so much time chasing after an Olympic dream, she owed it to herself, as well as to Bruce and everyone else that had gotten her that far to try and see it through. 

So Steph took a deep breath, and told her father no. 

The change in Arthur was instant, his anger easily making itself known. His lawyer just looked resigned to dealing with the man, a card that was surely dealt by the court.

“You know, I thought when you asked me here, that you might show an interest in the things I’m doing. But it’s all about you, just like it’s always been. I’m done trying to help you in hopes of getting a smidge of attention in return.”

Steph stood up from her chair, squaring her shoulders like she would before an event. “Good luck with your case, but I’m not going to miss my chance at the Olympics for you. I’ve worked too hard to only come this far. Bye, Arthur.” 

She turned to face the door, and when the buzzer went off and the door swung open to let her into the hall, Arthur was shouting over her shoulder about how she wasn’t worth it. That she would never make it.

The door slammed shut, silencing Arthur’s tirade, and Stephanie took a second to gather her wits before looking up at Bruce.

The man had a sad look on his face, but it wasn’t one of pity when he opened his arms to her. Steph stepped forward, and pressed her face into his torso. She took a deep breath in, and Bruce smelled just like he always did, a hint of aftershave, the detergent that Alfred always used, and the chalky smell of rubber that came from running a gymnastics gym six days a week.

After a minute, she took a step back and tried to stealthily wipe her eyes. Bruce’s hand rested on her shoulder, and it was comforting to know that her coach was there, that Bruce was there, in more ways than her father had ever dared to be. 

“C’mon, kid. Let’s go home.”

**•••••**

Coming back to the present was jolting, as Vicki Vale stared her down, waiting for Steph to come up with an answer. If she was honest with herself, Steph wasn’t sure what she should say. Her family life had always been hers and hers alone. No one had cared who Stephanie’s father was before, but she also hadn’t been an Olympian before.

Stephanie Brown found herself squaring her shoulders once more, leveling a steely look at Vicki. She opened her mouth, and the truth came out. That she and Arthur Brown had never really had a positive relationship beyond sharing half of his genetics. She was raised by her mother, with Arthur making rare appearances when he was out of prison. 

It was Crystal and Bruce who took care of her, Bruce and his boys were always supportive and they gave Steph an outlet for her energy and her mother a reprieve from a bouncy little blonde that didn’t know how to sit still. Arthur chose a life of crime over having a decent role in his child’s life, and really, Steph had come to terms with that already.

“It made me stronger, and I found my own family. Hey, now I’ve got some cool medals to hang up in my room, so I think it worked out for the best.”

The red light on the camera cuts out after that, and Steph can’t really get a read on Vicki Vale’s expression before she closes her eyes, and counts her breaths. For the life of her, Steph can’t remember the exact words she had used, but she knew it was the truth. 

Hopefully Crystal wouldn’t be too upset with the choice words Stephanie had shared about her father. When she opens her eyes again, Dick and Alfred are standing in front of the chair she’s in, and they both look worried. 

Past Dick’s shoulder, she can see Bruce looming over Vicki Vale, and she can’t summon the energy to feel bad for the woman. She deserved the full Disappointed Bruce Experience. 

Distantly, Steph registers Dick asking if she wants a hug. Automatically, she nods, and the older gymnast steps forward and wraps his arms around Steph’s slight figure. She clings to him like a koala bear, and tucks her head into his neck, hoping that the next time she looks up, Vicki Vale and all of her nasty Gothamite research will be gone. 


	2. the world falls apart... but only a little bit.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations for the impending hurricane that is Vicki Vale's interview begin, and Steph's looking for a rock to hide under.

After the mess that was Steph’s interview with Vicki Vale, Bruce and Alfred decided they should call it a day, and loaded Dick and Steph, who was still wrapped in the former’s arms, into the car to head back to Wayne Manor. That should have been the end to a hectic day. Emphasis on should have been. 

Steph had extracted herself from Dick’s hold by the time they reached the manor, just in time to get squished between him and Jason on the couch in the family room. She didn’t even know Jason was going to be at the house that night, although she had a feeling that the others had a hand in getting the boy there. He was only two years older than Steph, and they got on like a house on fire. 

With Tim off, training at his parents’ place in Canada for his upcoming snowboarding season, Jason and Dick were the next best option for pulling Stephanie out of a funk. They’d known her ever since she was a little kid, and were her older brothers in almost every sense of the word. She was grateful for them, even if all she wanted to do at the moment was crawl in a hole and never come out. 

Leave it to Stephanie Brown to mess up an interview that was just supposed to be about her accomplishments. 

The girl groaned and pulled at the strings of the hoodie she didn’t remember putting on over the leotard she’d been wearing at the gym. A quick look down revealed that it was one of Dick’s hoodies, likely pulled from his gym bag. It had the usual blue stripes that met in a V on the chest and ran down the arms, a signature look that Dick had come up with for a marketing deal years ago. It stuck, and Steph was pretty sure that he was still raking in a good bit of money from that deal.

Jason and Dick were having a silent conversation over the top of her head, so Steph pulled out her phone and sent a text to her boyfriend. Tim wouldn’t see it for a while yet, his training usually ran long when he was away like this. But he would see it eventually, and know that Steph would need some sort of cheering up when they talked.

‘Messed up an interview today. Rlly bad, everyone’s gonna see it and my mom’s going to be mortified. Looking for a rock to crawl under asap.’ 

Once the text marked delivered, she closed out of her messages, and cradled her phone to her chest. Bruce was pacing behind the couch, on the phone with Stephanie’s actual press agent. The one that had been assigned to help sort through all of the post-Games requests. 

She’d only actually seen Rebecca a handful of times, but the woman handled the national aspect of maintaining Steph’s image, while also making sure they didn’t violate any NCAA rules so that Steph could still have the opportunity to compete in college if she felt the urge.

Eventually, Bruce stopped pacing and hung up the phone. She heard him take a deep breath, before he made his way around the couch and sat on the coffee table in front of her. Steph was tempted to hide in the oversized hoodie forever, but Bruce cleared his throat and she sat up and let him push the hood away from her face. He had a sorry look on his face, and Steph wished that she could stop seeing that face every time her home life came up.

“We need to call your mother, Steph. The interview is going to air tonight, and Crystal doesn’t need to get caught off guard.” His voice was soft, like it was the day they went to go see Arthur at the prison.

Silently, Steph nodded. God, the last thing she wanted to do was call Crystal at work to tell her about the latest dumb thing she’d done. But she pulled out her phone and hit the speed dial for her mom, wondering if there was any way she could fix this in the last few seconds before her mom picked up the phone.

“Hello? Stephanie?”  _ Too late. _

Steph swallowed around the lump in her throat. “Hey mama, um. Bruce is on here too, we need to talk to you about something that happened today.”

Jason squeezed her knee in a form of encouragement, and Steph almost missed her mother’s response. “Okay, you were doing interviews today, right sweetie? Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, um--” Steph’s hands were shaking, she hated how anything to do with Arthur always got to her. 

She never reacted this way when it was related to gymnastics, but Arthur had always been a sore spot for Stephanie. He wasn’t around all the time when she was growing up, thankfully, but when he was, it was like Steph couldn’t do anything right. Even when she thought that she had done exactly what he wanted, there was always something for Arthur to get mad at. 

It had taken her years to figure out that he was just an angry man, that Stephanie herself wasn’t to blame for his outbursts. But realizing that fact had done her a world of good, and Bruce and the boys had helped with that. 

Before Bruce took him in, Jason had come from a home a lot like hers. An angry father, a mother that couldn’t stand up to her husband. The difference was that Crystal had kept it together enough to take care of Steph, to get her to gymnastics so that she could fall apart alone. 

They’d made it through every storm that was Arthur’s homecomings, and if Crystal was late to pick-ups sometimes because of her support group, or because she picked up another shift; and Steph had a need to try and get every flip, turn, and twist just perfect; well it wasn’t hurting anyone. Sometimes that was just the way life was.

The phone was gently slid from her palm and into Bruce’s, the warmth of his hand resting on her own was there for a moment, and Steph was pulled from her thoughts. 

“Crystal? It’s Bruce. Stephanie did great today, she was prepared for almost every question they threw at her, and her tumbling passes were almost as perfect as they were at the Games.”

“Good, good. I don’t think I understand what the problem is, though?” Noises from the hospital filtered through the background, an ever present reminder that Crystal was at work. They didn’t have all day.

“Vicki Vale had the last interview of the day, and she knew of Steph’s relation to Arthur.”

Steph blinked rapidly, trying to clear the tears from her eyes. An arm snaked its way around her shoulders, and Jason pulled her into his side, as if he could shield her from what was her own mistake.

“Oh dear.”

“She talked about Arthur’s latest sentencing, and asked why Steph didn’t attend the trial. Stephanie answered as well as the circumstances allowed, but she was ambushed. And Vicki won’t cut the interview. It’s airing at 8pm.” Bruce’s words almost felt like a death sentence. 

In just a short while, the world would find out that Stephanie Brown’s father is a criminal, and then what? Would they ever let her compete again?  _ Would they ask for her medals back? _ She just got the title of Olympian, surely they couldn’t take that away.

“If you can,” Bruce continued, “I think you should watch the interview. And then we can talk with Rebecca tomorrow and decide what the course of action should be for a response.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to the other nurses. I’m sure I’ll be able to slip away to watch it. And I’ll see you and Stephanie tomorrow?” Crystal’s voice came through the phone with some static. Steph imagined her mom holding the phone against her shoulder, scribbling a note about the time of the interview and that she would be meeting with Bruce the next morning.

“Yes, Alfred’s offered to make brunch, and I’m sure Steph could use some waffles to celebrate the Olympics.”

Crystal chuckled. “Okay, that sounds good. I need to get back to work for now, so I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Stephie? Sweetheart, are you still there?”

Steph leaned forward slightly, not totally getting out from under Jason’s arm. 

“Yeah, mom?”

“I love you, Stephanie Brown. And I am so proud of you.”

“I love you too, mom.”

“Okay, good. I’ll see you tomorrow, baby. Sleep well.” The call ended after that, and Steph’s home screen flashed up at her. 

Her mom was still proud of her. Even though Steph messed up and now the ghosts of Arthur’s past might be coming back to hang over their heads. Her mom was still proud, and Steph felt a little spark of hope that maybe this wouldn’t be the end of the world.

She took the phone from Bruce and actually looked down at the screen, it was a picture of the three of them, Crystal, Bruce, Stephanie, and Steph’s gold medals. They looked so happy, like being at the Olympics was some big hit off of a helium balloon and they just couldn’t stop laughing. It was Steph’s favorite picture from the whole affair, and one the media didn’t have. 

Steph sucked it up and watched the interviews. Dick’s interview was just as full of one sided flirting as she remembered, and her own wasn’t actually that bad. She wasn’t as smooth as Dick, but it was clear that Vicki had sinister intentions when bringing up Steph’s father. Even the camera lens managed to pick up on that.

Later, after everyone went their separate ways, and she was alone in her bedroom, Steph took a second to look around. Her room here was painted, a blue that she had to barter and plead with Alfred for days to convince him that it would look good with the red, white, and blue of her National Team banners. Ribbons, medals, and trophies lined the shelves, and pictures with all of her friends and family were spread about randomly. It was her home.

Her phone buzzed with a text from Tim:

‘Sorry, fresh out of Steph-sized rocks. Do you want to talk about it?’

An amused grin pushed its way onto her face, leave it to Tim to make some cheesy joke just because he knew it would make her smile. She swiped the message open to respond. 

‘Not tonight. Brunch in the morning to rally the troops. Tell me about training.’

Steph clicked the lock button on her phone twice, so she could look at the screensaver again. Crystal’s smile was still there, a real one, not the one she would give Arthur when Steph was a child. And Bruce had that look he used to get when she got excited about landing a new flip as a kid, the look that always made her feel like every new trick was something special, that she was special.

Her mom was still proud of her. So was Bruce, and the boys. Everything would be fine as long as she had them.

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment, let me know what you think, or what you think is going to happen next.
> 
> [or hit me up on tumblr!!](https://thatsuperherosidekick.tumblr.com/)


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